Associative processors having content-addressable memories are special purpose computers typically used in conjunction with general purpose digital computers to handle tasks that are very time-consuming to the digital computer, but which can be handled efficiently by the associative processor. Thus, associative processors augment digital computers to provide more data processing throughput without complete system redesign. One application of associative processors, which is only one of the uses described herein, is to function with large capacity or bulk memories for document retrieval and file searching.
It is an object of this invention to provide an associative processor for document retrieval and file searching.
It is another object of this invention to provide an associative processor made up of commercially available random access memory (RAM) integrated circuits and utilizing little additional circuitry.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an associative processor that is used to locate any one of a specified group of words and/or characters, or to locate a specific sequence of words and/or alpha-numeric characters within stored messages and data.